recovery. >> president obama came in with a lot of promises. he said we could measure progress by a number of things. one, you would know if we were having progress and success about whether people could find a job. and he said if we let him borrow $787 billion he would keep unemployment below 8%. it has not been below 8% since. it is now 42 straight months with unemployment above 8%. jon: iowa has six electoral votes up for grabs. it has a good track record picking the eventual president. six in the last eight elections. it voted for the democrat more than half the time. but the economy is going to play a big role in this election. according to the latest quinnepiac polls of key battleground states, nearly half the voters surveyed in colorado, virginia, and wisconsin rate the economy as the top issue. more than a third of those surveyed say they believe the economy is getting worse and not better. jenna: political war of

words over welfare reform also one of our big stories today spreading from the campaign trail to capitol hill as governor mitt romney open as new line of attack on that, accusing the president of trying to gut the welfare reform law passed in 1996 by then president clinton. the president's campaign is rejecting this charge, releasing a new ad challenging it, but in the meantime, former president bill clinton getting involved. you have congress getting involved. we need to figure some of this out. jim angle with us, chief national correspondent down in washington and he has more. jim? >> reporter: you're right, we do have to figure this out, jenna. republicans in both houses introduced legislation to prevent the obama administration from using waivers to reduce work requirements in the ninth six welfare reform law. listen. >> for them to just unilaterally change the law, they can't do that. >> reporter: representative tom graves of georgia says this is clearly another example of the president expanding his powers and expanding the powers of an

agency creating an environment of dependency is certainly a hallmark he says of his administration. now what started all this was a july 12th memo from the health and human services department which it claimed it had, quote, the authority to waive complyness and allow states to try other methods, including quote, definition of work activities and engagement. many lawmakers saw that as a power grab pause the original legislation dud not authorize such waivers. the welfare law is two years overdo for reauthorization. lawmakers say if the administration needs changes, ask for them. listen. >> because the president wants to make changes or the administration has better ideas how to administrate this area, or this program, they're welcome to come through congress. >> we're in the middle of second decade. undoubt he had lid they need some changes. let's work together to get them done. >> reporter: the administration point

toddlers from utah among others asking for flexibility. listen. >> just last year states led by democrats and republicans including nevada and utah called for these waivers. >> reporter: but utah's letter complained only about the many accounting requirement, jenna. it did not ask for a waiver of the work requirement. the governor also questioned whether the hhs could act on its own saying quote, utah understood the hhs waiver did not have waiver authority and our request for limited flexibility was made under that assumption. secretary sebelius sent a letter to congress saying quote, we will not accept any changes that undercut employment focused welfare reform signed into law 15 years ago. skeptical lawmakers say if that is true, then why did the department argue in the first place that it could waive work requirements? jenna. jenna: just a reminder. congress is on vacation, now, right? >> reporter: they are. they have been working on reauthorization for two years.

so the administration could have gone to them at any time, said, we need to inject a little flexibility into this law. jenna: maybe it will happen while they're on vacation, right? no. just kidding. >> reporter: maybe not. jenna: jim, that is a big story. we'll continue to watch it. it is really fascinating. thank you for that. >> reporter: you bet. jenna: the tea party scores a big victory in missouri we want to tell you about. we talked to you a little bit about yesterday. republican senate candidate todd aiken breaking out of a three-way primary race to secure the nomination. he is set to take on democratic senator claire mccaskill this fall. the two already taking jabs. aiken tells mccaskill is liberal. taking away jobs and mccaskill says aigen on the fringe. the tea party is not a party. that is the way we refer to the movement. missouri gop senate candidate, todd aiken and chair of tea party congress,

michele bachmann and founding member, congressman steve king of iowa both endorsed aiken. this is the fourth senate primary win for the tea party since may. besides aiken's win in missouri, tea party-backed candidates scored victories in indiana and nebraska and also in texas. the challenge is not over though. the tea party has candidates in key primaries coming up in wisconsin, arizona as well. one of the big questions is, can the tea party translate these wins in the pry mire rays -- primaries to actually wins in the general election? that is something we'll have to wait and see. jon: some new information now on last year's deadly shooting spree in tucson, arizona. a judge lets jared loughner plead guilty. he is expected to spend the rest of his life in prison. loughner admits to killing six and shooting 13 others including congresswoman gabby giffords. last year a judge found him mentally unfit to stand trial. but a psychologist says treatment for schizophrenia

helped and he now understands what he did. correspondent adam housley joins us live later in the show with with the latest on that. there are new details on another mass shooting. this one in aurora, colorado, last month a new report says a psychiatrist treating james holmes asked police to do a background check on him just six weeks before the movie massacre. there are questions what the doctor knew. holmes is charged with killing 12 and injuring dozens more during a cleaning of the movie "the dark knight rises". jenna: reports are rebels are on the run in syria. maybe a momentum shift here. regime troops launching a major ground offensive in aleppo. it is a ancient city and a strategic one and this battle has been raining more than two weeks. leland vittert in the middle east bureau with the latest. >> reporter: this could be the a decisive one in the syrian civil war going on

more than a year. a rebel loss here would not only deny them a base of operations, it would also prove very costly in terms of lives and ammunition on the same time a the government would continue to push the rebels out and leave them on the run. this is the latest video, amateur video coming out of the town of aleppo. it shows the syrian army vastly outgunning and outmaneuvering those rebels. the syrian army has not only aircraft in terms of fighter jets to bomb the rebels but also heavy artillery and tanks to take on those rebels, many of whom are armed very heatly indeed. in the past two weeks we've seen in aleppo the reports coming out do not look good at all for the rebels as the rebels continue to fight bravely, often times with antique guns. they are being pushed back. they're running low on ammunition. they're running low on medical supplies and many, many rebels are continuing to lose their lives. also there's a big civilian

toll in the terms of the battle a help poe. 10 of thousands of refugees fleeing north 25 miles to the turkish border out of what was a major commercial hub inside syria a. iran is continuing to play a larger and larger role. we had a visit of a top iranian firm to meet with president assad. as president assad is consolidating his power he is certainly holding on very well. in the past couple weeks the syrians have been able to maintain control over their capital. and if they are able to push the rebels out of aleppo and deny them a base of operation it is will make things look much better for president assad a much longer battle for these rebels trying to kick him out of power. jenna. jenna: what is next in all this? ambassador bolton will join us in 15 minutes to talk more this topic. leland, thank you. jon: good news for homeowners, new signs of life in the housing market could be good news when it

comes to your big investment if you have a place. the brother of olympic ice skater, nancy kerrigan, may ask a judge to send him back to jail. why he says he would rather be locked up than living at home.

jenna: just breaking on the newswires now, we have some brand new polls coming in from reuters up sew. an interesting look where voters are right now. according to one reading americans are more pessimistic, saying the country is on a wrong track, if you will. that read is up 5% to 64% of those polled say that. voters also say something interesting. reversal. president obama is stronger than romney on taxes, jobs and economy according to the latest pole.

the president's lead among romney among registered voters, 49% to 42%. quick reminder. these voters were polled last month in july. we're 90 days away from the election. as we continue to watch the race for the white house. jon: crime headlines we're keeping an eye on. remains police say, found on a louisiana highway, mickey shunick. a registered sex offender is charged with kidnapping and killing the 21-year-old college student. the brother of olympic ice skater nancy kerrigan is expected to ask a judge to send him back to jail. he has served a year of more than 2 1/2 year assault that killed his father. if he things like alcohol and mental health counseling and anger management classes. police in burbank, california, are not laughing at the latest stunt from comedienne joan rivers.

the 79-year-old handcuffed herself to a shopping cart at a warehouse store because it is not selling her new book. officers escorted rivers and her camera crew from the store without incident. jenna: the show, fashion police. irony in all of that? certainly got her publicity. we have breaking news this hour. watching the housing market to try to gauge the economic recovery. today we have a new report on home prices. between april and june they rose by their largest percentage in a few years. we're asking the question what is behind this? is this something that will stay? is this a good sign for us? fox news's david asman, is with us. what do you think? >> joan rivers sold her house. dolly lenz is her agent. she sold her house for record numbers about. not just the rich folks are doing better. price increases went up 4.8% per quarter, according to freddie mac the big mortgage

giant. it is very broad based and a lot of higher prices are going to folks at the low end of the scale. so this is good news for all rungs of the economic ladder. in fact, they do these surveys based on 100 metropolitan areas, 100 cities, large and small, and 71 of those 100 cities are seeing these price increases. compare that to only 19 last december. why is this happening? it's classic supply and demand. as the government begins to pull out of the housing market, all of these government programs, begin to fade out, the market is coming in and discovering several things. first of all, new home construction is very low right now. people aren't, the big developers aren't building new holes because it is not profitable. secondly, there are 11 million homeowners who are underwater. they owe more on their mortgage than their house is worth. so they're not selling right now. so there is a dwindling supply of houses and increased demand. a lot of investors are getting into it. warren buffett, you may not like his political views, i

personally don't but the fact is he is a smart investor. he has been getting into housing in a big way. a lot of other people rich people are. what they're doing not flipping house. buy houses at foreclosure sales and rent them out. because the rental market is increasing. there is not a lot of flipping that you saw, five, six, seven years ago. to the first point of the government pulling out is helping the market or at least government programs don't work as well as the market, remember those tax credits that the government was giving away back in 2008, 2009, 2010, to spur the housing market? well the demand that is going on right now is far outpacing the demand during those times of the great tax credits. so the market is working and that's good news for everybody, jenna. jenna: david, as far as momentum, does it seem like this is sustainable, that this is a real turn and a real pickup that is here to stay not like the last several years it has been so choppy it is hard to know what to believe? >> that's a great question. you have to be wary. there are still very strong

headwinds against the housing market. in one place it is very difficult to get a mortgage as a lot of people out there realize. banks have had to tighten their lending standards tremendously as a result of the crisis. there is this shadow supply of foreclosed properties coming on the market not yet on the market. so the market may soon be flooded with more foreclosure properties. but the initial signs, particularly the fact this is broad based, not only joan rivers folks are able to sell their million dollar properties but a lot of people are coming in and buying foreclosures for all-cash, not even going to the bank, people just paying cash for foreclosed properties in depressed areas that may be well under $100,000 per property. so the broad base effect of this price increase is very, very hopeful for the housing market. jenna: david, will you come back for more celebrity real estate reports? >> absolutely. love to. jenna: nice little anything get for us today, brings it all together so neatly. david asman with fox business the thank you, david. >> yep. jon: he is charged with

murdering his third wife and he is under a cloud of suspicion in the disappearance of his fourth wife. there is key testimony today at the drew peterson murder trial. who is taking the stand against that former cop? we're live with details. as the battle rages on in syria iran appears to be trying to shift the blame and reframe the crisis of the how that could impact the united states. and the world's growing standoff over iran's nuke program. that's next. i've been coloring liz's hair for years.

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jon: right now some potentially pivotal new testimony in the murder trial of former illinois cop drew peterson. we're hearing from the man who led the investigation into the death of peterson's third wife, kathleen savio.

harris faulkner on it from the breaking news desk. >> reporter: jon, this is so interesting. retired police sergeant, patrick collins is accused of carrying out a botched investigation at least what prosecutors hope to show as they try to prove drew peterson is a killer. ex-sergeant collins is on the stand right now and reportedly telling jurors he had not investigated a single murder before arriving at the home where kathleen savio died. no cameras in the courtroom on this one. we're able to follow the action and get the latest from our journalists from our local fox affiliate there, wfld. collins we're told may very well be asked why he failed to collect forensic evidence or failed to secure the suburban chicago house where savio was found in the dry bathtub. collins said in previous hearing, we knew this from a couple years ago he fully believed savio's death was an accident almost the minute he stepped into the home. prosecutors say he also did not talk to or interview any of her relatives after her death and they want to know

why that was the case. we do know peterson was charged in his third wife's death after his fourth wife stacy peterson vanished in 2007. jon: still no sign of stacy peterson? >> no. jon: harris, thank you. jenna: new information on the growing crisis in syria as the rebels there face a brutal assault by government forces in the largest city of aleppo. this comes as the syrian president makes his first appearance on state television in nearly three weeks. he appears with an on very from iran. iran is trying to really show the world solidarity with assad. some suggest tehran is trying to reframe the syrian conflict as part of a wider battle with the united states and other world powers. ambassador john bolton is a former u.s. ambassador to the u.n. and a fox news contributor. ambassador bolton, one iranian analyst had this to say. it means now, this appearance with the envoy in syria, this is now a more

international war. is it? >> well, it always has been. i think what's remarkable about the iranian declaration of their intention to stick with the assad regime is that it represents a very public doubling down of long-standing iranian support. you know if you looked at the media narrative over the past couple weeks after the assassination of the assad regime's defense minister, opposition attacks on the capital, damascus, aleppo, the largest city, one would have thought that the assad regime was on the verge of falling or that its trajectory was inevitably down and that allies of the regime like russia and iran might have said, maybe we ought to hedge our bets a little bit here. iran doing exactly the opposite, making it clear by these statements, by the public appearances, that they are in this, i think, right to the end with the assad regime and it represents --. jenna: ambassador, why not? why wouldn't they be?

what do they have to fear by doing that? >> well if they continue to support the assad regime and lose it takes what would clearly be a major strategic loss for iran and magnifies it into a real public humiliation across the middle east and around the world. so i think it is fairly unusual, fairly remarkable, to see iran this publicly come out and continue their support for assad. jenna: do you think there's maybe even something deeper? that they just don't really fear the united states, they don't fear our involvement there? they don't think we're going to be more aggressive? so why not double down with your friends that are your neighbors rather than go a different way? >> well i think what they're doing in effect is telling the obama main strings, -- administration, people on capitol hill who want to aid the opposition something that has been implicit right from the outset, which getting involved with the opposition means taking on tehran itself. if we were committed to a real posture of regime

change in syria we better be prepared to be committed to and follow through on regime change in iran as well. that would be fine with me. i don't think that is anywhere close to where the obama administration wants to be. jenna: one of the topics that has come up in conversation about this over the past 16 months there is a hesitancy by the united states to get involved here because we don't want to be seen as meddlesome, if you will, in the affairs of syria or another country in the middle east. obviously we're being painted that way regardless. don't really matter what we think. it matters what the people over there think and they think we're meddling. that is the claim iran is making already. if that is the case, what should our next move be? >> well, people like the regime in iran are going to make that claim regardless. when we did nothing in the summer of 2009 to aid the opposition protesting ahmadinejad's fraudulent re-election, that didn't stop ahmadinejad from saying we were involved in it. i have feared though from the outset that the obama

administration might well be prepared to trade legitimatizing the iranian nuclear weapons program for iran giving up on assad. i think that deal is still there. i very much fear it. i think the iranian regime might grab it and i think the obama administration might be willing to give it. jenna: ambassador bolton, just a quick final question here. do you think this, and you're critical of the obama administration here and their moves in syria. do you think this is a problem of an administration, a specific one or a bigger problem on american foreign policy over the last several years in general? >> well i think the administration has never wanted to get involved in syria because it feared if it did so, any chance of a negotiation with iran on its nuclear program would disappear. i think that's completely incorrect analysis but i think that's what held up the obama administration. i think more broadly though we just don't know who the syrian opposition is. to this day we can't be sure who they are or what their

loyalties would be. that is just a fact. jenna: you always give us a lot to think about, ambassador bolton. thanks so much for your time, sir. >> thank you. jon: a fox news alert out of bethesda, maryland, and the walter reed national military medical center is being evacuated or parts of it have on about evacuated now as a result of a bomb threat. somebody called in a bomb threat about 8:50 this morning, a little less than three hours ago. said a bomb would to off in building number nine at 10:00 a.m. eastern. that is an hour and a half ago. obviously that bomb has not gone off but they have evacuated parts of building 9. they are sweeping it for explosives. on the walter reed website says no appointments are being taken at that medical facility until 1:00 p.m. eastern time. pretty appalling that a place that treats our nation's heroes when they come back from places like iraq and afghanistan, so badly wounded, get a bomb threat but that is what is going on there now. we'll keep you updated as to

any new developments. jenna: some major developments in the wake of the shooting at that sikh temple in wisconsin. why police are now focusing on the ex-girlfriend of the man they say shot and killed six people. with we have the very latest in a live report on that. plus a heated war of words over welfare reform on the campaign trail. who's right, who's wrong. how is this all playing out with the voters? we have a fair and balanced debate just ahead. tend to weigh less than those who don't. multigrain cheerios

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jenna: we have some breaking

details from an fbi news conference. this about sunday's deadly shooting at the sikh temple in wisconsin. investigators are saying that the gunman, wade michael page, died from a self-inflicted wound. rick leventhal is live in oak creek, wisconsin. that is not all we heard from this news conference, rick. what else? >> reporter: that was the most dra the ma development. we know the first officer on the scene was shot by wade michael page and the next officer we're told shot page and brought him down. the fbi confirmed the that officer shot page in the stomach. page after he was knocked down, took his own weapon and put a bullet in his own head. hear is the fbi. >> it appears page died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. >> reporter: the good news also released today, light brian murphy, a 21 year

veteran off the oak creek police department who was the first person on the scene and who was shot eight or nine times by the gunman, was up walking in the hospital. he is doing much better despite his eight or nine bullet wounds. also today we have confirmed that misty cook, the 31-year-old ex-girlfriend of the shooter, a waitress and nursing student, was arrested and released on sunday. the fbi and local police went to her home to talk to her. they knew she was the ex-girlfriend of the shooter. during their time in her apartment, discovered she had a weapon. she is a convicted felon. she is not allowed legally to possess a weapon. so she was arrested on that illegal weapons charge. the fbi says she was not involved in the associate shaing. they don't believe anyone else was either. they say he alone shot up the temple behind me. he alone is the responsible for the six deaths and three wounded. meanwhile the fbi response team, jenna, is still inside the building. it is a 16,000 foot crime

scene. they're combing that area, still collecting bits of evidence and trying to talk to anyone and everyone who came in contact with wade michael page over last few years to try to determine his motive. jenna: we're trying to piece together this senseless crime but we're learning more each and every day. rick, thank you. >> reporter: sure. >> i was not a huge supporter of the federal plan that was signed in 1996. i would not probably supported the federal bill that was passed. jon: that was governor mitt romney's campaign accusing the obama administration of gutting welfare reform in a new television ad. as part of a new line of attack blasting the president for apparently removing work requirements from federal welfare regulations. a centerpiece of president bill clinton's bipartisan welfare overhaul back in 1996. the obama campaign is firing back with a new ad of its own. >> "the washington post" says the obama administration is not

removing the bill's work requirements at all. states have to increase the number of people moving from welfare to work. in fact, romney asked for even more flexibility when he was governor. jon: so who's right, who's wrong and what impact is all of this having on voters? joining us for a fair and balanced debate, mary katharine ham, editor-at-large for hotair.com and a fox news contributor. chris comean has, former chief of staff to west virgina senator, joe manchin. welcome to both of you. the impression, mary katherine, president obama with the stroke of a pen undid what president clinton and the congress got together to today back in 1996. am i wrong? yeah, the fact he did undo a lot of that and states can make different decisions now based on this waiver but the basic idea, look he didn't actually have the authority to do this. the obama administration enjoys doing things with stroke of a pen maybe not legally it is supposed to do. the 1996 law was built on

great bipartisan consensus the things that obama supports allegedly. yet now after they had the fights and hard-fought consensus he says we're not doing that anymore. i think they're trying to clean up a mess after the fact now. this is 80% issue with folks, with americans to have work connected to welfare. and now they're saying oh, we didn't do that but they did. they specifically cited that they wanted to waive work requirements, not reporting requirements. jon: it didn't seem to make, sense, chris, you tell welfare recipients, okay, you don't have to work anymore. >> that is not what the president has been suggesting. i mean, if you look actually the facts and, you know in terms of wrong romney's attacks are, what president obama is trying to do is actually provide the same kind of flexibility that governor romney asked for when he was governor. in fact it doesn't minimize or reduce requirements. it actually increases requirements, to get the waiver, you actually have to

hit a goal of 20% more jobs, 20% more employment. so these kind of ad homonym attacks based on nothing but a kind of skewed perspective by the romney campaign i understand. it is politics. but it is completely irrespective of the facts. jon: well, governor romney is said that the president is trying to water down the work requirements. here is what he had to say. >> that is not true. it is absolutely false. jon: let's hear it from the governor and we'll get back to you. >> i want state flexibility to craft programs in a way that is best for each state. this idea that the federal government telling states what to do in my opinion is the wrong way to go. but my, my focus is on increasing work requirements, not eliminating them. what the president is doing is saying we're going to take out the requirement for work. it's a big mistake. jon: you disagree with that, chris? >> no, i don't disagree with the point what he is saying but the fact is that is what president obama is trying to do. he is giving states the flexibility, not every state

will qualify. not every state will be granted a waiver. the goal is to hit 20% more employment to make sure people who are on welfare are actually getting better jobs, more jobs. that i think is a goal everyone can be supportive of. jon: go ahead. >> when governors ask for flexibility in the past they specifically asked for a piece of legislation that would give them flexibility on reporting requirements and give them some flexibility. in fact to increase the work requirements they asked for a piece legislation, why? because there was not the authority to change this law. the law says you can not change the work requirements. you can not with a stroke of a pen gut the entire hard fought consensus the 1996 law was based upon. a he doesn't have the authority. b he is gutting work requirements. >> what is the, so what is the criticism? the criticism is he is not following law to increase employment or he is not increasing employment? >> sebelius, by the way, whole 20% increasing employment idea came after they issued these initial

requirements. it was a thursday afternoon, information memorandum that they hoped everyone would ignore because it does aim to gut this stuff. it does not have the authority to do it and they wanted everybody to relax and never notice it. now they're doing a cleanup job and sending people out like you they will increase employment by 20%. >> this is not a cleanup job. >> 80% issue and they're upset getting attacked on it. >> you have to have it laid down before you send it to the states. this is not a cleanup job. this is not a fantasy world we live in. >> not anantsy world you live in? why are you changing legislation, just randomly when you have to pass a bill? that is what congress is for. allegedly obama loves hard fought bipartisan bill and he sort of dismisses it. who needs it. jon: all right. chris we're going to have to leave the discussion there. >> sure. jon: we'll certainly keep tabs on this welfare thing. it will be percolating the next few months until we have the elections in november, that's for sure. chris, mary katherine, thank

you both. >> thanks. jenna: we have breaking news. a flight on the way to seattle, the plane suffering a catastrophic electrical failure, losing all cabin pressure. we have breaking details where that plane is now and how the passengers are doing. we're going to have that straight ahead next. it's something you're born with. and inspires the things you choose to do. you do what you do... because it matters. at hp we don't just believe in the power of technology. we believe in the power of people when technology works for you. to dream. to create. to work. if you're going to do something. make it matter.

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order now and get this document shredder, a $29 value free. [♪...] call or go online now. [♪...] jon: fox news alert about an in-flight emergency. alaska air flight took off from los angeles headed to seattle. it was forced to land in san jose airport. apparently there were some electrical problems on board. reportedly decompression of the airplane, meaning that, you know, that pressurized air that is inside somehow got out. that means that in all likelihood the oxygen masks drop down. electrical problems, a major electrical catastrophe in flight pretty rare and

thankfully so. that could lead to huge problems. the good news here is, this flight did make it to the ground safely. it is on the ground now in san jose. and those passengers will have a lot of stories to tell. jenna: catastrophic electrical failure. can still pilot the plane? jon: i guess most of those older generation planes are hydraulicly controlled. so if the engine still spinning and hydraulics are still working you're okay but electrical failures in an airliner, never a good thing. jenna: one more thing to add to the list for nervous flyers. jon: yes. jenna: like this one on set. jon: good job for the pilot getting that one on the ground. that is for sure. jenna: new information on one of our country's most well-known social media companies, facebook. facebook is unveiling this new plan for its users but there is a business strategy as well. it is online gambling. a new bingo app is allowing users to wager real money. only available right now in the u.k. but is this what's to come, a facebook? fox business network's diane

macedo has the latest for us now. >> reporter: jenna, this comes from a new deal between facebook and a gaming company. this facebook frenzy allows users to play online bingo via facebook for cash prizes. they also plan to offer virtual slots on face book in the future you can look forward to that. facebook said in a statement, real money gaming is a popular and well-regulated activity in the u.k. and we're allowing a partner to offer games to adult users on a facebook platform in a safe and controlled manner. while the game is only available in the u.k. for now, the move puts facebook to in a position to capitalize if online gambling becomes legal in the u.k., for example. gambling is a controversyal thing to cash in on especially for mainstream company like facebook. it needs the money more than ever as it tries to bounce back from the disasterous

debut as a public company. the share price has been cut in half to give you an idea. facebook's spokeswoman said there is no plans to offer gambling in oy any other countries. whole she would not disclose how much revenue facebook would gain but she said they have a revenue sharing agreement. facebook takes 0% of revenue for transactions from other games on its service like "farmville", for example. if this works out it could help the company make much-needed revenue. facebook is reportedly in talks with other companies about expanding those gambling offers already. looks like they're taking no time at all to get this launched off the ground, jenna. jenna: it would be very ironic if an old-fashioned game like bingo saved facebook. >> reporter: on a platform supposed to be for young once. jenna: it might just work. diane we'll see, thank you. >> reporter: thank you, jenna, i like the old-fashioned wheel and little balls. much more fun than playing it on the computer. athletes at the london

him picks are smashing records left and right. some are wondering if these stars have just good old-fashioned training to thank or if they're born withing something the rest of us simply don't have? we'll tank about it coming up.

jenna: well the world's most talented athletes are demolishing records at the london olympics and entertaining us all. we want to know what makes them so good. training of course is key but is there something in their dna that just makes them better than the rest of us? on the phone, steven roth, who works at the university of maryland. the he is director of graduate studies of exercise physiology and genetics.

he has looked into this. professor ross, are they born this way. >> in many cases yes they have something special. look at physique of gymnasts compared to marathon runners and shot putters and you will pk out the athletes because of the physical structure of their bodies and those athletes who are just beyond excellent, hussein bolt, michael phelps, these sorts of athletes you can see that their physical bodies are matched almost perfectly to the demands of their sport. jenna: professor roth, a lot of these athletes have been training since they were little kids. do years of training change your genetics in a way? do you actually grow into your sport if you train for hours and hours on end since you're little? >> well, your dna is not going to change. you're born with your dna and it is not going to change regardless how long you live but certainly those kids who start early, they

may see some physical adaptations, specific to a sport just because of the many hours that their body is forced to participate in those activities. jenna: you know there has been some discussion about the world records that have been set over these olympic games. surely there will be more to come as well. some say we're reaching our limit. that we've reached the limit or the peak of human performance. that over the next several years we're not going to see all these records broken. we've actually peaked as athletes. what do you think about that? >> i don't know. i'm skeptical of that just because we are becoming a smaller world. i think more and more people around the world will have the opportunity to participate in sport, which i think is great. which means more opportunity for these elite excellent athletes to find their niche in particular sports. then we have training techniques we're constantly developing and improving. equipment changes. training techniques.

all these sorts of things, i think we'll continue to see improvements during my lifetime. jenna: good dna doesn't hurt? >> not at all. jenna: professor roth, nice to have your expertise today. thank you so much for the time, sir. >> thank you for the opportunity. >> thank you very much. interesting, interesting stuff. jon: very interesting. hey, some surprising new polls out today. how each candidate is doing in each of the battleground states. the growing expectations about the governor romney's vice-presidential pick. karl rove is up next. [ male announcer ] introducing zzzquil sleep-aid. it's not for colds, it's not for pain, it's just for sleep. because sleep is a beautiful thing. ♪ zzzquil, the non-habit forming sleep-aid from the makers of nyquil.

we asked total strangers to watch it for us. thank you so much, i appreciate it, i'll be right back. they didn't take a dime. how much in fees does your bank take to watch your money ? if your bank takes more money than a stranger, you need an ally. ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense.

i just discovered untopped triscuit tastes great. oh, it's so good! we've been getting a lot of these angry satisfied customers... >> this is a test. take one out ! sorry. if this image robbed you of the great taste of untopped triscuit, claim your free box online. sorry you had to see that, buddy. [ male announcer ] 100% whole grain, oven for an toppable taste. triscuit. it's snacking good. jon: bran new polls that could hold the keys to the white house and insight as to how voters feel about president's economic policies. karl rove weighs in. jenna: do you have a new liver? we paid for. the criminal gets a life saving

treatment. a treatment that thousands of americans are on a wait list again. we are going to have a fair and balanced legal debate on this. jon: about the cost of this call everyday. breaking details of what is going on with this moves. all "happening now." it is a battle to gain votes among men and women. that is heating up the campaign trail. i am jon scott. speak you don't forget about the most. a potential star. i am jenna lee. both sides are making hard-sell today. raising the volume to fire up the party base. the president kicking off a two-day trip to colorado. nine electoral votes up for grabs. he's going to be talking a lot about the economy and also talking about women's health. in the meantime, governor romney working with other voters in

another battleground state. des moines, iowa. six electoral votes up for grabs there. he will be talking about the middle class and we mentioned to you this welfare reform issue. carl cameron is live in iowa traveling with governor romney. tell us a little bit about governor romney. he was in des moines, iowa, earlier. how is he changing his attacks on the president? >> well, he is sticking to his artillery. he is sticking to his argument as well. overnight, former president bill clinton actually came to president obama's defense on us and said that in his view, mr. clinton's view, the obama administration has not done anything that they were ultimately surfing welfare, because in mr. clinton's in mr. clinton's assessment, the obama administration has put in requirements that work to

increase under welfare, even if the waivers for the work requirement are shifted. mr. romney today, here in iowa, hearing none of the excuses and just going straight to his interpretation of what the obama administration has done, and once again something that welfare as we know it, changed as it was back in the '90s, it has been changed back. essentially, arguing that the government is back. here's how he put it today. >> senator obama now he is president, he put the original intent in place as president would be very careful undrinkable executive action. he removed the requirement of work from welfare. it is wrong to make any change that would make america more of a nation of government dependency. we must restore and i will restore work for welfare. >> noting in 2005 come as governor of massachusetts, he signed onto a letter from the republican governors association

pressuring congress to create more flexibility for welfare can be run at the state level more flexibility. mr. romney points out that when legislation to eliminate the work requirement into this office in massachusetts come he vetoed it. >> the president is in colorado today. he's taking in some of those attacks from governor romney and pushing things back out. he is certainly not going quietly. he's not alone in colorado, there is someone else with him. >> he is not alone. it is one of the topics were vice presidential running mates. rob portman is trying to offer the republican alternative counterpoint. he has five events in colorado today while the president is campaigning there. at the same time, tim valenti and another short list or a sentimental favorite for the romney camp were vice presidential pick is campaigning in michigan.

mitt romney's home state. he gives you an example of a certain on behalf of their ticketless. we can't forget the other two candidates, and the conventional wisdom. paul ryan, the house budget committee chairman and marco rubio, both of them, mr. rubio's case on family vacation now and in mr. ryan's case, taking a vacation next week to colorado with his family. he won't be watching and waiting for a phone call on the vice presidential ticket. jenna: john says that colorado is it great anytime of year. very interesting. [laughter] jon: okay. on the campaign trail today. why are iowa and colorado so important to these campaigns at this time around? they are to battleground states. the president won in 2008. iowa has a recent history of being a squeaker in presidential races. it went narrowly for al gore in the year 2000. then barely went for president bush four years later. as for colorado, hispanics make

up 20% of the population and% of the population and it is just one of to battleground states that has 1 million or more hispanic residents, florida is the other one. meanwhile, new polls showing two swing states the president won in 2008. one in colorado is split between president obama governor romney. the republican presidential candidate is ahead of the president in colorado and the latest cbs poll. 50% going for governor romney, 45% going for the president in this new poll. the president leads in virginia 49% to 45% in a third battleground state, mr. obama holds a six-point lead. 61% to 45%. let's talk about aldiss with karl rove, former senior adviser and deputy chief of staff to george w. bush. he is also a fox news contributor and nobody can take a particle better than karl rove can. what do you make of these new numbers?

>> first of while we have to be a little bit cautious about one poll and one state. for example, in five of the six polls that are coming out in the last couple of days come and the number that they gave president obama is higher than the average of all the recent polls in those states. in one of those states, they give president obama a lower number than the average. you have to be a little bit careful. i like to look at it this way. let's look at the average of all the recent polls in the states. three of the states, colorado, florida and virginia are tossups. according to the average pools. two of them are ohio and wisconsin and pennsylvania is the only state that is outside the margin of error and likely to be in the obama column. if you look at quinnipiac, florida and virginia move into the obama column and colorado moves to mitt romney. if you step back and look at all of them, it shows three states very close, tossups come in two states leaning to obama today,

but still up for grabs, and only one state, interestingly, pennsylvania, moving to obama by more than the average. >> it has often been said that the president has had trouble winning reelection if the approval of his economic policy is below 50%. that has been the trend for president obama. he has not been getting about 50% in most cases. there was this poll of three particular states. voters were likely voters, and asked whether -- which comes closest to your view of president obama's economic policies, including now, and will improve if given enough time, and will never improve. in colorado, 51% of those voters say that his economics policies will never improve things in virginia and wisconsin, the numbers are slightly lower, 46

and 42%. what does that take you? >> well, this is forcing people to take an extreme position. they will never do anything good for the country and in colorado and the one poll, again, cautionary note, have the people say that they never will. this represents a problem for president obama and the numbers in virginia and wisconsin are not good either. people say i begrudgingly admit we can spend our way out of this, maybe it will ultimately help, but that is a skeptical place for skeptics and not enthusiasts. another way to look at this is if you look at the national numbers and they are reflected in a lot of polls come in the president is upside down on his approval of the economy. in the cbs and "the new york times." 55% disapproved of the economy, 39% approved. when you look inside the numbers, it is even worse. strongly approved is 11%, strongly disapproved is 49%. that is not a good place to be.

jon: so much of the advertising has been negative from both camps. the impression is that the president's campaign and the packs that are supporting the president are trying to make mitt romney sort of an unacceptable alternative. as all that negative advertising budget numbers much as far as you can tell? >> well, it has not budged on the ballot in may, may 15 when the television braasch began on the obama side. the gallup daily tracking was 46 or 45. as of yesterday, the gallup daily tracking was 46 to 46. nor has it budge the negatives of the candidates. these are the unfavorables for both candidates. 45% had an unfavorable waiting for president obama. today it is 46%. in mid-may, 46% had an unfavorable rating of mitt romney, 40% today. what is interesting is the

nature of the negatives. for president obama, the negatives are related to performance in office. the truth is the american people think his policies have not helped or have hurt the economy. for governor romney, it is personal characteristics and questions about is he a rich guy who doesn't have a concern for the middle class. can i relate to him? is he somebody who has a plan? if i were a candidate, i would rather have governor romney's negatives than president obama's negatives. the interesting thing is that those negatives have not budged since may 15. after the expenditure of literally $300 million worth of advertising on both sides. >> governor romney has said he will announce his vice presidential pick earlier rather than later. you are thinking it could come this week we met. >> -- tom as early as friday because even as a customer. but i think is likely to to come

after the bus tour for the bus tour more likely to use this function to showcase this when he begins rollout last week, and i think he's going to want to give that shape and substance for he does his vice presidential pick. it is more likely to come after the bus tour. >> we should mention for our viewers who are curious, if you are in montana at the moment, flathead lake behind you. henderson, very proud. >> thank you, for joining us. >> it is a beautiful country of your loss, but the. jon: it certainly is. jenna: we can reach them. [laughter] jenna: several nights of violence in anaheim, california, is for new wars and political power. and talk about this.

jon: a tropical storm hit the yucatán peninsula, forcing thousands of tourists each shelter. >> that is a hooker. and a volcano wakes up after more than a century movie fans out there, you're going to recognize this place from lord of the rings. we will tell you about what's happening in new zealand coming out

this is a test.

jon: if fox a fox news alert and information on the bomb threat called in to bethesda, maryland. >> right now we can tell you this is an active cold black. they put that announcement out at walter reed in center to the 8500 employees, we are told. they are clearing building 19. evacuated in about an hour ago, but now they are going through it with what we understand to be k-9 units come in trying to follow up on the call that was made sometime ago with a threat that was pretty specific, saying that a device would explode in building 19 at a certain time. that time has passed. but they are still sweeping the building. a couple of things to know. just in terms of what they would have to mobilize. it is the orthopedic clinic at

building 19 houses. again, it has been evacuated. 8500 people worked at the complex, we don't have a phone number of how many people would've been in building 19, but it was a working day in the building was open. they have since spent it all appointments after 1:00 p.m. here on the east coast from ever coming up on that 45 minutes or less, they are still keeping this building. there is a chance that appointments may be delayed even further. right we don't have anything that they have found inside a building 19, but this is an active, ongoing situation. it is appalling, again, will own and that kind of thing. i certainly hope that it is a hoax, but the fact that they do it all at a place like that is pretty terrible. >> it is where they treat our nations heroes. jon: it is the largest military medical center in the nation. jenna: happening right now, to colorado tour buses or evacuated following a bomb threat.

one man has been taken into custody. the bomb squad is searching there. a minor earthquake has new scientist on alert a day after a dormant volcano erupted. the first time in more than a century. a second volcano on the nearby island is also threatening to come back to life, scientists say they are closely monitoring both situations. and country singer randy travis is arrested in north texas while driving while intoxicated. we are just hearing about this. when police arrived at the same time he didn't have any clothes on. this is randy travis leiby second run in with the law. he was arrested back in february. jon: a fox news weather alert. heavy rain pounds at charlotte north carolina for two straight days. so far, at least three people have been rescued after their cars became trapped in rapidly

rising waters. one driver says he didn't even realize the flooding was that bad until he actually got on the road. no injuries, we are happy to tell you. please are asking everyone to use caution. scattered thunderstorms are expected to remain in the area until at least overnight tonight. >> on top of the storm, it is on the move after making landfall over mexico's yucatán finance law. late last night, it hit the area as the hurricane with winds of up to 85 miles per hour, sweeping over eight cruise ship and several low-lying villages. we also have some breaking news. reporting this hour that this was the hottest july on record since 1895. if you felt hot in july, you were right. janice dean was telling us all about what is happening. you have a lot to keep your eye on. >> maybe that is why randy

travis wasn't wearing any clothes. [laughter] jenna: there is always an explanation, you know? the hottest july on record. >> the hottest month. we will talk about it now, hurricane ernesto, under the 1936, which was the peak of the gospel. just incredible statistics. this is hurricane ernesto as it moves across the peninsula and into the basement. it was a hurricane, no longer a hurricane. it is going to continue to make a westward track and make a second landfall, possibly just out of mexico tomorrow. we are monitoring tropical storm gordon. the remnants of hurricane florence in the atlantic. just off the coast of africa, that could become our next main storm, which could be the storm that would be gordon and their major tropical storm model, definitely keeping an eye on this one.

this is incredible. not only the warmest july on record, the warmest month ever. 117 years and just taking a look, we have had the warmest month on record, as well as the warmest twelve-month period. the fourth warmest march, april april 3 warmest, in july, the record warmest -- the record warmest month we have ever reported since records began. a quick look at your temperatures. today we are hot across the southern and central plains. 114 in phoenix, and you go tourister closer toward the east coast, little bit cooler, 84 in rolle, north carolina. >> 84 degrees in raleigh, north carolina. >> i never thought of weather as an excuse to.

>> jigger goes on even notice how they are. [laughter] jon: is getting a little warm in here. serving 6.5 years for robbery. a prisoner in rhode island has just received a million-dollar organ transplant. should taxpayers be forced to cover the costs while so many other patients are still out there on the waiting list? we will debate it, fair and balanced, coming up. any utah police officer comes to the rescue of a moose in distress. the cop asking a neighbor to film the entire incident, just in case anything goes wrong. we will show you how it ended coming up next. ♪

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jon: the debate is growing over prisoners rights in this country. how much medical treatment can they get? 27-year-old josé pacheco, serving a 6.5 year sentence after pleading no contest to second-degree robbery, possession of stolen car parts and conspiracy. he has also been arrested previously, multiple times, for drug-related crimes. last week, he got himself a new liver. a liver transplant can cost up to $1 million, and the state of rhode island's taxpayers are going to be on the hook for 40% of the cost of his treatment. with medicare picking up the rest of the tab. that is all the rest of us. right now, more than 16,000 americans are registered in an international database is waiting for a liver transplant. is it fair that a prison inmate gets one, while others are still waiting? let's talk about it with a criminal defense attorney. joey jackson as a former

prosecutor. what about it? is that fair? >> well, it is a moral debate that has gone on in our country for years, but legally the answer is plain and simple. the government has a legal obligation to provide medical care to inmates. this goes back to 1970s science case in the supreme court of the united states determined that for the government to deny medical care to a prisoner who needs it, it is cruel and unusual punishment under the constitution. understandably, as a taxpayer and law-abiding citizen, it is upsetting that people are seeing this. because the dollar is so high, prisoners get medical care every single day, we are hearing about this. jon: they get their cavities filled and that kind of thing, but a liver transplant for a million dollars? that is a pretty big cavity. what you say? >> the law states that we do indeed have to provide medical care. however, it is the degree of medical care that is issued. i would suggest that the case

that she is talking about, the supreme court did not say that liver transplant should be afforded to inmates. but the supreme court did say that you cannot have deliberate indifference toward the medical treatment of an inmate, and that simply means that you cannot recklessly disregard the care. i would suggest you do there is a huge distinction between being deliberately indifferent and being unreasonably accommodating. i don't think there is any way for any measure that legally taxpayers should be putting a bill for a prisoner to the tune of a million dollars for a subsidy that the national government is giving in the state is picking up 40% of the rest. i think it offends all notions of fairness and decency, quite frankly, that the taxpayers should have to deal with. >> the most common cause of liver disease and the need for a liver transplant is alcoholism and drug use is up there, too. we know that this guy had a history in the drug trade. we don't know what caused his liver failure in the state won't

stay because he's a prisoner and that medical records are private. the wiki is responsible for self-inflicted liver disease. >> you are right. they are not going to say but the reality is there are many people who are on the transplant list that you could say the same thing. and here's the way to the argument goes. prisoners are already being punished for their crime by being incarcerated. what were decided many years ago is that they are not going to be punished again. once they are in prison, although we take away their right to liberty, we don't take away their right to food and shelter and safety and medical care. within that, of course, the highs and lows about whether somebody -- what type of care that they get -- that is less so. the doctors at the hospital made the determination that this man needed to care. >> let's just say i am unemployed and i find out that i need a new liver. what is to prevent me from knocking over the local liquor

store so that i can get arrested and go to prison and get a new liver and have the state pay for a? >> it is a great point because it leads to all these parables. you are going to get the best health care imaginable. there is a distinction between providing the bare necessities. when you provide food it doesn't have to be steak or lobster. when you provide medical treatment doesn't have to be a transplant. >> you are forgetting one thing. once these people are put on this organ transplant list, and determining if they are eligible, once it is determined that they are eligible, my understanding is it is random. if a you prisoners but at the same list and dashed. >> deliberate indifference, providing a liver transplant. that seems to be way beyond the standard the court has set. >> for the doctor in this case, it would be delivered if the doctor determined that he needed it. the doctor made the decision.

>> of folks in rhode island are paying for it and so are we. >> the rest of us are picking up the rest of it on medicare. all right. good discussion and thank you. jenna: a very interesting debate. how about a moose story? jon: i love those stories. jenna: a utah police officer taking a rest after coming to the rescue of a moose. he was tangled in a swing set and we have the video. sergeant wayne says that he was a little bit skeptical when he got the call. but he immediately sprang into action. he called wildlife officials that they were more than an hour away. he decided take matters into his own hands. literally. >> i figured i would just had a pair and see what it's all about. i just try to be calm, there was one point that i actually reached out and patted him on the head. just time to let them know that i wasn't going to hurt them.

>> they seem to be dangerous animals. in the end, the surgeon and the moose were okay. the moose runs off there. thank you very much. he could've said thank you. the sergeant joked later about the neighbor filming the incident. dating that if something happened to me, at least it would be on video. something you and i can relate here. >> you don't want to make a moose angry. without them i guess it's pretty good. jenna: what was he doing in the swing set? we never got to the bottom of the. jon: he got his big old head table. i don't know. are you better off than you were four years ago? that was the question and candidate ronald reagan asked this before defeating jimmy carter. carter. we will ask a former reagan next. take advil, and maybe have to take up to four in a day. or take aleve, which can relieve pain all day with just two pills. good eye.

is. jenna: as of today, voters have 90 days left to make up their mind about their choice for president. while many debate what's truly framing this election today's front page of "the wall street journal" says it's a familiar theme, one that we first heard when ronald reagan was running against president jimmy carter. the question is, are you better off than you were four years ago? reagan asked that question of voters on national tv, back in 1980 just days before the election. normally you might just hear one line but today we'll show you a little bit more so we can talk about why decades later it might still drive an election. take a listen. >> next tuesday all of you will go to the polls and

stand there in the polling place and make a decision. i think when you make that decision it might be well if you would ask yourself, are you better off than you were four years ago? is it easier for you to go and buy things in the store than it was four years ago? is there more or less unemployment in the country than there was four years ago? is america as respected throughout the world as it was? do you feel that our security is as safe? that we're as strong as we were four years ago? and if you answer all of those questions yes, why i think your choice is very obvious as to who you will vote for. if you don't agree, if you don't think that this course that wee been on for the last four years is what you would like to see us follow for the next four, then i could suggest another choice that you have. jenna: art laffer was one of

president reagan's chief economic vice source. he was also part of wrong ron's advisory team when he made that famous address. is the question the same this time around? >> it is same. lovely seeing that. do you see how softly spoken he was. he wasn't yelling or screaming or any of the hyper rhetoric. just very simply, do you want four more years of what you've just had? and the answer is yours to make. i mean all elections are referenda on the incumbent and reagan made that very, very clear and beautifully said. i think it is the same today. jenna: it is interesting. "the wall street journal" went to allentown, pennsylvania and they interviewed a whole bunch of different people how they feel about the economy compared to four years ago. and most of the folks they talked to said, well, yes, i'm better off than i i am four years ago because i have a job, maybe several jobs, but i'm squeaking by. if i look back to the depths of the recession i guess i'm better off.

that seemed to be the answer. so how do republicans work with that? it is not as bad as it was. not maybe as good as some would like it to be? >> well you don't. literally, people have the right to choose their own government. you know, that's their choice. what you want to do is give them a picture what the future will be under jimmy, under ronald reagan, when jimmy carter or, under barack obama and mitt romney. and then you make your case and they make their choice. remember, jenna, though, people do deserve the government they get. and the cases, i don't think we're better off than we were four years ago. i think this has been the worst single recovery in the history of the united states. i think the data show that. but if other people disagree, let them keep him for four more years and see how i like it. jenna: do you think based on what you say working with reagan, you saw him talk about the economy in so many different ways and at some different points of the economy he saw during his term, do you think republicans have done good

enough job and mitt romney's team specifically, laying out exactly what their economy would look like and what exactly those economic policies would be? >> yeah. well, you can't be exact. i mean he is not president. he doesn't have all the information but, you know, i think mitt romney today is as good as ronald reagan was at this exact same time. now ronald reagan evolved probably one the greatest presidents in u.s. history and he did it really well but, i think mitt romney is fine. i thought the 59 points were good points but i like five points better than i do 59. jenna: 59, you have to put them on index cards. kind of work through it. can i pick up on something you said. >> sure. jenna: you said something really interesting there you believe mitt romney is as good as ronald reagan was at this point in his campaign. >> yes. jenna: why is that? >> yes. well, i think what he has proposed is pretty good. if you look at the proposal on the tax cuts it is very similar. he has proposed all sorts of

policies out there that are very explicit. i mean, with the defense and all of that, i think mitt romney has done a great job and i think ronald reagan did as well but ronald reagan evolved to being really great. i think mitt romney has the potential of being really great as well. but, you know, it is all the future. yeah, it is the future. sometimes the future doesn't come out the way you like it to. i think with mitt romney he will do a great job as president. jenna: goes back to the appointment we saw with ronald reagan. that was a few days before the election. >> that's right. jenna: 90 days before the election that a lot can change. art, we look forward -- >> only one poll that matters. >> we look forward to talking to you over next 90 days. >> thank you, jenna. my pleasure. jon: they take that poll election day, right? this was no comedy but was it a performance? joan rivers sounding off on a bullhorn while in handcuffs. the police are not amused. we'll tell you what sparked all of this.

plus brand new images of the fierce fighting in syria. the big beef that syria's rebels seem to have with the united states. and what it could mean if they succeed in overthrowing their dictator. ♪ [ acoustic guitar: upbeat ] [ dog ] we found it together. on a walk, walk, walk. love to walk. yeah, we found that wonderful thing. and you smiled. and threw it. and i decided i would never, ever leave it anywhere. because that wonderful, bouncy, roll-around thing... had made you play. and that... had made you smile. [ announcer ] beneful. play. it's good for you.

jenna: right now in the syria government forces are launching a massive ground assault on the rebel-held areas in the city of aleppo, the biggest city in syria. the battle for control getting more intense by the hour. the military according to reports inflicting very heavy casualties and syrian activists put the number of people killed over the last 17 months we've been talking about this story at 201000. 21,000 dead. this isn't the first time we witnessed this kind of large-scale massacre in syria. in fact in the early 1980's as many as 40,000 people were reportedly killed by president assad's father. that is in the city of hama in 1982.

we don't have a lot of pictures from this time. we weren't allowed in to take those pictures. but this has really stood as one of the largest massacres in history in syria. and like today, the united states did not get directly involved when this happened in 1982. kt mcfarland was deputy assistant secretary of state at that time. she is a fox news national security analyst. and we bring this up, kt, just for some context, this is not the first time we've seen the government of syria kill its own people. >> no. jenna: what can we draw from the past to see about how we should act now? >> there are a couple things going on here. one, syria at the time in the reagan, during the reagan administration we had very little relationship with syria, we didn't have a military supply with them. they were russia's clients. we didn't have a lot of ability to influence events before they happened. after they happened, that was part of a bigger picture, the same picture we're seeing today interestingly. syria in the middle of a

civil war. then lebanon in the middle of a civil war. right now the syrian civil war threatens to do the same but to break out to iraq, to jordan, to lebanon. jenna: i had didn't in 1982, right? >> it did and it didn't. lebanese civil war. we sent in troops. we had marines at the airport barracks, that was in retrospect, the first suicide bomber, first car bomb that went into the marine barrack as year later after this syrian mass kir and killed american marines. what did reagan do in response? interestingly although we think of him as tough pro-defense and hawk, he did not double down and send in american ground forces. he understood he had to keep his sights on bigger gain to take down on the soviet union. we need to have our sight on the bigger game in this which is iran. jenna: what can we do better?. >> here's the thing how did

reagan win the cold war without firing a shot? how did he get to the point where iran stayed quiet for a decade after reagan? economic warfare. reagan said because you have the most powerful military in the world you don't have to use it because people are afraid of picking a fight. jenna: some say we're doing that. economic warfare, cyber warfare. we're trying all the different things except direct warfare. >> we are. we're definitely in a shadow wore with iran with assassinations and cyber warfare and we're not doing it enough. jenna: we need to be tougher? >> look, we imposed these sanctions. we've been imposing sanctions for years. what happens? iran works around them. we say we're going to impose sanctions six months from now. that means you get six months to have a work around. jenna: iran are they that smart? are they that much better than us as far as politically maneuvering around whatever sanctions a company gives them? >> here's what we're doing right? they're still building

nuclear weapons. we're still talking about having them go to the negotiating table. who is the smarter game here? iranians created game of chess and they're awfully good at it. if we want to real want to stop iran's nuclear weapons program, if we really want to stop iran from aiding syria crash their economy. their currency has fallen by 50%. let it fall against 100%. double down on the sanctions. don't give every country exemptions, do it quickly and do it now. what you do have regime change reagan style. not regime change where we send in the marines. regime change the iranian people say we've had enough. go back out into the streets like they were in 2009. they have regime change zoo we'll see what happens over the next 17 months. >> it won't last that long. jenna: we'll continue to talk about it until that time, right? kt, thank you so much. great to have your insights today. jon? jon: it is a political commercial, jenna, even seasoned political veterans

are calling a low blow. a democratic attacked a that blames governor romney for a woman's terminal cancer. calls for president obama to denounce it coming up. hey joe, can you talk? sure. your hair -- amazing. thanks to head and shoulders for men. four shampoos that give men game-winning alp protection, great looking hair... and confidence [ male announcer ] up to 100% flake free with head & shoulders for men. or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today. anyone have occasional constipation,

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jon: fox news alert. southern california shaking again. just about 20 minutes ago a moderate earthquake centered near the city of yorba linda in orange county, it was a 4.5-magnitude earthquake. no damage, no injuries reported but folks are a little bit on edge there. they had a 4.4 earthquake last night in the same general area. so this is back-to-back moderate earthquakes, 4.4, 4.5 on the richter scale in orange county, california. we'll keep you up dated if

anymore come along. jenna: well, right now there is a major push to overhaul the election process in the city of anaheim, california. this is in the wake of two fatal shootings involving the police. the incident further inflaming tensions between law enforcement and the city's diverse, very diverse latino population. activists say something needs to change. william la jeunesse is in anaheim with a preview of today's special meeting with the mayor and city council. william? >> reporter: well, jenna the meeting all allowing people to vent in a constructive way. police will tell you anaheim isn't the same city as it was a few years ago. they have a gang problem. violent crime is way up. homicides double. when police responded shootings sparked protest and ignited a broader atmosphere with resentment over race, class and wealth. anaheim, california, home of disneyland, the angels and ducks. but lately --

>> we're not the happiest place on earth. we're the tragic kingdom. not the magic kingdom. >> eight police shootings this year. five fatal. >> i went as my son took his last breath. >> reporter: a week of violent protests. >> these hurts against our community are systemic attack against our people. >> reporter: but are they? both july shootings involve documented gang members. one fired first trying to flee police. >> the police see themselves as trying to protect these families, trying to go after some of the gangs and drugs that, that you know, kind of hide out in the neighborhood. >> reporter: 2500 gang members consider anaheim their turf. they outnumber police six to one. yet even activists admit police are not the real issue. >> these are issues, money, education, safety. >> reporter: anaheim to many is "a tale of two cities". one poor, hispanic and unemployed. the other, white, older apwealthier. >> people have had enough. they want representation. they want a vote on these

issues. >> reporter: in 1970 anaheim was 9% latino. today it is 53%. yet no one on the city council is full latino. the aclu is trying to change that by filing a lawsuit to ecouncil members by district. >> council opening up saying we want to hear from everybody, that's a good thing. hopefully it can be a positive interchange. >> reporter: tonight's city council meeting has been of moved to a high school auditorium to handle 1,000 people. some the local businesses are boarding up expect a problem. as for shootings, four out of five victims were armed. the shootings are under investigation by the attorney general's office and the fbi in terms of use of force. jenna: a story we'll continue to watch, with, thank you. jon: he was a 6-year-old who fell to death inside his father's million dollar coronado mansion in california. hear why some medical experts think the little boy's death

was no accident.

this is a test

jenna: we have the properties for you and it is iconic. a developer is turning this building into luxury condos. they include a five level penthouse if you are interested, a swimming pool in the basement will also be renovated. expect some $3000 per square foot. how about that? >> there you go. once the tallest building in the world that had opened in 1913. jon: those are not five and directors. jenna: "america live" starts right now. >> we begin with a fox news alert on the growing political controversy at the white house and see what they have to say about whether president obama supports new attack ads,

claiming he caused woman's death. i am shannon bream in for megyn kelly. it is being called one of the nastiest attack ads yet. the super pac that has been endorsed by the president and led by a top obama aide is suggesting that mitt romney contributed to the death of a steelworkers wife and that he did it callously. >> that is when they found cancer. there was nothing they could do for her. and she passed away in 22 days. i do not think mitt romney realizes what he is on anyone. furthermore, i don't think mitt romney was concerned. shannon: is it important to note that this whole incident occurred two years after mitt romney let bain capital, and there is more to the story as well. all raising questions about the accuracy of the claims and the fairness of the attack. press secretary jay carney offer this yesterday. if you are wondering if the

president will endorse the ad being announced on both sides of the aisle or whether he will distance himself from it. >> you know, i have not seen the ad campaign and would not revert to the organization. i cannot respond to it. >> it is referring to the president's reelection campaign. [inaudible conversations] i am simply saying that i have not seen that. so how can i possibly affected. >> if you ask me tomorrow, sure. shannon: we have chris stirewalt, editor of fox business.com. let's talk about the ad. we mentioned the operation in question actually went out of business, they filed for bankruptcy after mitt romney had been disassociated with bain